Plugged In

First U.S. 3DS owner was also the first to buy a Wii

Nintendo has some pretty loyal fans - but none of them can compete with Isaiah 'Triforce' Johnson.

Johnson was the first person in America to buy a 3DS when they went on sale Sunday, waiting for five chilly days outside a Manhattan Best Buy to claim those bragging rights. As signs of dedication go, it's a pretty hard one to top -- until you realize that five years ago, he spent more than 200 hours in line to be the first to buy a Wii.

Johnson, who received his 3DS from Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime and Best Buy president Michael Vitelli, is a dream come true for the company's marketing division. He wears a Nintendo hat and shirt, sports a Power Glove controller on his right hand and has gone so far as to have his middle name legally changed to Triforce (a triangular relic from the Legend of Zelda games).

A professional gamer from Brooklyn, the 28-year old Johnson may be a Nintendo legend, but someone forgot to tell the folks at the Union Square Best Buy about him.

Early in his 3DS vigil, store management asked him to leave -- and ultimately called the police to chase him away for loitering. Johnson was undeterred and worked around the shift changes to keep his place in line. (Granted, that line was only two people long at the time, and they seemed to get along fine.)

By Thursday, Nintendo reportedly caught wind that their number one fan was holding vigil, and convinced the store to let him wait without any more interruptions.

Ironically, Johnson didn't really need to wait at all. He had pre-ordered his 3DS long ago, but to show his dedication to the company and its products (and perhaps recapture those 15 minutes of fame his quest for the Wii brought him), he made a point of ensuring he was first for the handheld system as well.

"I have it already reserved, but that's not the point," he told RawGamePlay (warning: some NSFW language). "I have a tradition I've got to keep. ... I don't know where it came from, but I've been doing launch parties for a whole bunch of Nintendo stuff, so I may as well keep doing it."